Cape Town - Suspected drug mule Melinda Stevenson – arrested for the illegal possession of 2kg of tik and who now calls the Pokok Sena prison in Alor Setar, Malaysia, home – is just one of hundreds of South Africans incarcerated in foreign jails.
Former president Nelson Mandela’s hope of starting negotiations with foreign countries for prisoner transfer agreements never materialised, and prisoners, such as Stevenson, are unlikely to return home.
Stevenson’s mother, Lenie Blaauw from Pretoria, visited her for the first time last month.
“In Malaysia you get hanged for (having) just five grams and she had 2kg of methamphetamines (tik) in her bag. The first time she got through with a temporary passport and they got hold of her the second time.”
Blaauw said that while they struggle to find money to afford an attorney, she’s concerned about her daughter’s living conditions. “It’s bad, they sleep on the floor like sardines and they don’t even have proper toilets. They are given a small bucket that they use as their wardrobe and bath and everything. Your life is basically in this small case.”
Blaauw said her daughter seemed nervous and cried a lot during the visit, but she had to remain strong for her.
“Sometimes when she calls us I can hear them beating her when she speaks to us in Afrikaans. It is very heartbreaking that she is going through that, but I am glad I got to see her and that I was there.”
Patricia Gerber, director of Locked Up Abroad – an organisation that helps South Africans held in foreign prisons – said Mandela instructed the government in 1996 to start with negotiations, but they never took place.
“In 1999, Mbeki came into power and he appointed Jackie Selebi as director general of the then Foreign Affairs. When he came to hear of it, he stopped all further negotiations. Sadly Mandela’s wish never became a reality.”
She added that they did not have exact figures of how many South Africans were locked up abroad. “In 2009, the Department of Correctional Services stated in court documents that there were 1 049 South African citizens locked up abroad.
“For the past 10 years, Dirco seems to have got stuck on the figure of just over 600. We at Locked Up believe this figure to be much higher because the arrest of our citizens has escalated out of control.”
Many are from the Western Cape, but even more are from other provinces, she added.
Turkey, Malaysia, Argentina and Pakistan are some of the countries that hold South Africans in their prisons and most of the charges are drug related.
“In Kenya they get life, and in Mauritius the sentences are anything from 20 to 60 years. Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia and Thailand still have the death penalty.”
Cape Argus